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Maddie's Back-to-School Spaghetti Pie

Woohoo... the kids are back at school and yes, they're all as happy about it as I am. And since it seems like the entire world seems to be in back-to-school mode today, it only made sense to make a kid-focused meal for the end of their big day. Dropped the eldest off to university on Saturday (how can it possibly be that almost 18 years have passed since we first drove home from the hospital with our tiny 20-plus-1-inch-long baby and now we're suddenly driving our 6-foot-plus-one-inch-tall teen off to university?). Could someone please explain how that happens because it feels like just yesterday to me. But since the other two kiddies spent short days at their schools, Maddie was up for helping with dinner prep in the afternoon. We found this child-friendly spaghetti pie and since it was just going to be the kids eatin' coz Dad was at some work function, we decided to give it a try.The fact that the dish looked something like a deep-dish pizza appealed to Maddie as well as the realization that the spaghetti would bake together, get extra crispy and have to be cut into slices to be served. And totally fun to make a pie base out of the cooked pasta strands, layer on a spinach-cheese mixture, add some of Carole's exquisite homemade tomato sauce (which she'd generously donated to me as we left yoga earlier in the day... only Carole would just happen to have over 40 jars of tomato sauce in the back of her car), and top with grated cheese. A weird pie/lasagna combo that got good reviews from both critics. Maybe not the highest-brow meal we've ever made but it fit the bill for our day.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put water on to boil. Lightly grease a 10-inch pie plate.

In a medium frying pan, heat olive oil and cook onions until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the marinara sauce and oregano, and heat through.

Place ricotta in a bowl and combine with the spinach.

Cook spaghetti until al dente, drain and toss in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk eggs with 1/3 cup shredded parmesan. Toss with the spaghetti and then transfer to the pie place. Shape into crust shape by flattening centre and pressing up the sides of the pan. Layer spinach-ricotta mixture, followed by the tomato sauce and bake for 25 minutes. Top with shredded mozzarella and remaining parmesan, and bake for another 5 minutes until cheese is melted. Let cool for 10 minutes and then slice into wedges and serve.

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